Horseracing Roundup

24 Jan 2014

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Mullins Stars At Fairyhouse

Mullins Stars At Fairyhouse

Champion Trainer Willie Mullins took centre stage at Fairyhouse at Sunday, saddling the winner of the two most valuable contests on the card. He got off the mark in the Grade 3 Solerina Mares Novice Hurdle, saddling the Paul Townend-ridden Gitane Du Berlais to readily see off her stable mate Vicky De L’Oasis by five lengths. The pick of his brace came in the featured Underwriting Exchange Dan Moore Memorial Handicap Chase with the Ruby Walsh-trained Turban running out the comfortable six lengths victor under Ruby Walsh.

Stamina The Key For Foxrock At Naas

The Grade 2 Woodlands Park 100 Club Novice Chase was the main event at Naas on Saturday and the Ted Walsh-trained Foxrock galloped his way to an authoritative success. Stamina was at a premium in the testing conditions and Danny Mullins’ mount showed that he has it in spades by grinding his rivals into submission for a seven lengths victory. The other Graded contest on the card was the Grade 3 Limestone Lad Hurdle and it saw the Mouse Morris-trained Rule The World make all for a comfortable 7½ lengths success under Bryan Cooper with the long-absent Dunguib making a fine return to action back in third.

Lynam Doubles Up At Dundalk

Eddie Lynam has an excellent record at Dundalk and he was the man to follow at Friday evening’s meeting there, saddling a double on the card. He got off the mark in the Dundalk Stadium Racecourse Of The Year Handicap courtesy of the win of the Niall McCullagh-trained Wishyouwerehere, with the three-year-old swooping late to win by ¾-length. The Lynam brace was completed just 30 minutes later by the winning debut of Soft Power in the Crowne Plaza Hotel Race & Stay Maiden, with the Pat Smullen-ridden three-year-old powering away to run out the easy six lengths winner.

Byerley Babe Wins Thriller At Thurles

The featured Grade 2 Fame And Glory & Sans Frontieres Coolmore National Hunt Sires EBF Mares Novice Chase at Thurles on Thursday produced a thrilling finish, with the Robert Tyner-trained Byerley Babe emerging on top in a pulsating finish. The British raider Une Artiste looked set to prevail, but Philip Enright conjured a strong late run out of Tyner’s charge to get up and score by a nose. The other Grade 2 on the card was the Kinloch Brae Chase and it produced another exciting finish, with Paul Carberry being seen at his very best to deliver the Noel Meade-trained Texas Jack with a perfectly-timed challenge to prevail by ¾-length and the returning star Last Instalment finishing a very encouraging third.

Frankel’s First Foal Born

Frankel’s first foal has been born to Group Three-winning mare Chrysanthemum. The six-year-old daughter of Danehill Dancer gave birth to a bay colt at Coolmore Stud in Ireland on Saturday. The stud reported that the foal is “a handsome colt with a good head, a white blaze and great presence”. The news has been greeted with great delight at his owner-breeder Khalid Abdullah’s Banstead Manor Stud in Newmarket, where Frankel stands. Frankel, trained by the late Sir Henry Cecil, retired from the track in October 2012 after taking his 100% record to 16 with victory in the Qipco Champion Stakes. Other top mares he has already attracted include Alexander Goldrun, Danedream, Dar Re Mi, Midday, Stacelita and Vodka. The son of Galileo, now a six-year-old, mated with 133 mares between February and June in 2013 at £125,000 a time.

St Nicholas Abbey Dies

St Nicholas Abbey, Aidan O’Brien’s triple Coronation Cup hero, died on Tuesday morning, confirmed Coolmore. The brilliant seven-year-old, winner of six races at the highest level, had to be put down after he suffered a bout of colic. A statement issued by Coolmore read: “Regretfully St Nicholas Abbey has lost his brave battle after suffering a colic this morning. Surgery revealed a severe strangulating colon torsion that was unviable and he had to be euthanized on humane grounds.” The son of Montjeu faced a multitude of problems as he strived to recover from a fractured pastern he sustained last summer.

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